Summer Fun: Deep Ocean Challenge Guest Designer!

Hello, sweet friends! I hope you've had a wonderful July! After an unexpected break due to life happening, I'm thrilled to be back to crafting. :o)

I am honored to be guest designing today for Deep Ocean Challenge, where the new theme is Summer Fun! They are a talented bunch (not to mention sweet!), so this is a huge treat for me.

Picnics are one of my favorite summer activities. For my project, I made a little picnic basket for a warrior princess with a giant heart of gold.

She is battling a terminal brain disease, so I made this for her to preserve special summertime treasures and memories. I love her dearly. The darling basket template is an SVG file from My Treasured Kutz.

I used a bunch of goodies from Live & Love Crafts, which are linked below. The papers are from Maja Design's Coffee in the Arbour. I hope the daisies, centered with sunshiny love, will bring a smile to her beautiful heart. (And I am enamored with the lemon paper! They're adorable, as is she.)

A few Wild Orchid Crafts floral arrangements accent the basket, along with pearly accents and lacy trims. The pretty rosette trim is only visible in the first picture. The butterflies are from the same Maja collection.

Regrettably, I forgot to photograph it with the lid opened. :( The interior is the same daisy paper, but the larger 12x12 version of it. This way it will always be filled with blossoming love for an eternally inspiring little girl. ♥︎

Thank you for fluttering on by and I wish you a beautiful day. :o)

Lovely challenges entered:

 *613 Avenue Create~ Anything Goes (Optional: Shabby Chic)

 *Allsorts~ Add a Butterfly

 *Crafty Cardmakers~ Anything but a Card 

 *Creative Craft Cottage~ Anything Goes

 *Creative Inspirations~ Flowers

 *DL.Art Thankful Thursday~ July Linky Party (Anything Goes)

 *Fussy and Fancy~ Things with Wings

 *Glitter n Sparkle~ Something with B (blue, blooms, butterflies, basket svg)

 *Incy Wincy Designs~ Summer Lovin'

 *Let's Craft and Create~ Butterflies or Birds

Maja Design - Coffee in the Arbour 6x6 Paper Stack	Lace ''Coco'' (55mm)	Shabby Rose Organza Trim (35mm)	Pearl Hearts	WOC Cosmos Daisies
WOC Lilies	WOC Carnations	Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pads

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To a Very Special Friend

Hello, sweet friends! Happy Independence Day to my fellow Americans! Amidst the parades, fireworks, and gatherings, let us remember the reason we celebrate. We are the land of the free, because of the brave. ♥︎

I am posting on the Live & Love Crafts blog today, showcasing some of the newest Pion Design and Prima goodies. I did not have much time for this card, but had lots of fun making it. :o)

I mentioned last week how beautiful the artwork is in Linnaeus Botanical Journal and today I am featuring one of the scenes from the Images sheet. I continue to adore the colors throughout the collection, including the green of my card base made with Spellbinders Romantic Rectangles. It is the prettiest shade I've come across in quite some time.

It is rare that I create for anything other than charity, but this is one of those occasions. This is for a dear friend to remind her how thankful I am for our friendship. She is so often my rock! Isn't the image lovely? Pion captured nature's beauty to perfection in Linnaeus Botanical Journal. Shabby White Frantage is sprinkled around the border, although in retrospect I may have preferred Aged Gold. The gorgeous butterfly fluttering on top is from Prima's Imago mulberry paper butterflies set. The designs are so pretty and I love the wooden bead body.

Prima's Shabby Chic Resin Treasures are always spectacular and their new Garden Fountain set does not disappoint. I accented the resin with Shabby White Frantage and gave it a pearly fountain. It's bubbling up with the loveliest moments of our friendship! It rests atop the beautiful Shabby Rose Organza Trim and alongside the new Flatback Pearl String. The sentiment is from Pion's My Precious Daughter collection.

A Pion butterfly (from Shoreline Treasures) flutters above the Wild Orchid Crafts flower arrangement. The Chrysanthemum is surrounded by antique blue cherry blossoms, an apple blossom, a sweet blue rose tucked on the side, and a decoration berries spray. I am forever thankful that our friendship continues to blossom. She is a gift! Magnolia Heart Swirls scroll within, one of my favorite little dies. I hope she likes it!

Thank you for visiting and I wish you a beautiful weekend! :o)

Lovely challenges entered:
 *4 Crafty Chicks~ No Stamping
 *C.R.A.F.T. Challenge~ Embossing (I heat-embossed Frantage Embossing Enamels)
 *Crafty Catz~ Anything Goes
 *Papertake Weekly~ Take Your Pick (Product: Pearls)
 *Penny's Challenge~ Anything Goes
 *Scrapy Land~ Anything Goes with Dies they carry (Magnolia and Spellbinders)

Pion Design - Linneaus Botanical Journal 12x12 - Images	PiPion Design - Linneaus Botanical Journal 12x12 - Leucanthemum vulgare	Pion Design - Shoreline Treasures 6x6 - Dragonfly	Pion Design - My precious daughter 6x6 - Baby doll	Shabby Rose Organza Trim (35mm)
Flatback Pearl String (6mm)	Prima Shabby Chic Treasures - Garden Fountain	Prima - Imago Mulberry Paper Butterflies	WOC Chrysanthemums	WOC Cherry Blossoms
WOC Apple Blossoms	WOC Open Roses, 15mm	Decoration Berries	Stampendous Fran-táge Embossing Enamels	Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pads
Inkssentials Ink Blending Tool	Tim Holtz Paper Distresser Tool

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Christmas in July at Live & Love Crafts!

Hello, sweet friends! I hope you're having a beautiful week. A new month means a fun new challenge at Live & Love Crafts and I'm very excited... we're celebrating Christmas in July! Most of you know Christmas is my favorite everything. :o) I hope you join us!

This will soon be on its way to a magical location. Are you familiar with Give Kids the World? It is the resort village where most Make-A-Wish families stay for their week-long Disney World adventure. This village is filled with such joy and love that it is often declared the favorite part of wish trips.

Christmas is celebrated weekly at GKTW. Every Thursday the magic of the season fills the village and hearts of all visitors. Why do they do this? For many of the wish children, it will be their last Christmas. GKTW gives families one more opportunity to make Christmas memories.

I am honored to be creating cards for the parents and children as part of their magical celebrations, Christmas and otherwise. I have been anxious to begin and am thrilled my volunteer opportunity was accepted. :o) My first card is for the parents of a wish kid, with a hope to engulf them in beauty. 

My card features lovely papers from Maja Design's Vintage Frost Basics. 3rd of December is one of my favorite snowfall patterns of any company... it's so beautifully done, in design and color. To create a wintry wonderland, Madeleine lace flutters around the sides and top of my Cheery Lynn Designs Horizon Square Boutique base, while the new Shabby Chiffon Ruffle trim serves as blanket of snow. Sunflower Pearl trim lines the ruffles, as they remind me of pristine snowflakes.

For such a lovely recipient, the Christmas tree needed to be special. Since it's outdoors, I used the snowflake paper. Each layer is trimmed with Madeleine lace and graduating pearls. The top is adorned with Shabby White Jingle Bells and a jute triple bow, while the tree trunk is made with Double Row Pearl Trim. It rests atop a Joy! Crafts Oval Frame, encircled with Pearl String. For extra softness, I layered them atop a doily.

The Cheery Lynn Snowflakes (my favorite snowflake set!) are centered with Wild Orchid Crafts roses and covered in Glamour Dust, which is also sprinkled throughout the card. Memory Box Deer Trio was used for the animal friends, which are frolicking in the snow and in front of a Joy! Crafts Fence.

The My Craft Spot sentiment (no longer produced) is from Tiny Tags Christmas, which seemed ideal for the card's destination. It is cut out with a Spellbinders Nested Lacey Pennant. It is an honor to be a small part of these extraordinary Christmas celebrations. Love heals and every card I create will be filled with an abundance.

Thank you for fluttering on by and I wish you a wonderful day!

Lovely challenges entered:

 *613 Avenue Create~ Anything Goes (Optional: Use a Pearls and/or Rose)

 *Cheery Lynn Designs~ Christmas in July

 *Christmas Card Challenges~ Anything Goes

 *Creative Inspirations~ Anything Goes (Optional: Sketch)

 *Glitter n Sparkle~ Use a Sentiment

 *Papertake Weekly~ Take Your Pick (Product: Pearl)

 *Penny's Challenge~ Anything Goes

 *Scrapy Land~ Anything Goes w/brands carried by store (I used Cheery Lynn, Memory Box, and Spellbinders dies)

 *Sparkles Christmas~ Use Ribbon, Lace, or Twine

Maja Design - Vintage Frost Basics - 1st of December	Maja Design - Vintage Frost Basics - 3rd of December	Shabby Chiffon Ruffle Trim (40mm)	Lace "Madeleine" (25mm)	Double Row Pearl Trim (10mm)
Sunflower Pearl Trim (10mm)	Pearl String, 2mm pearls	WOC Open Roses, 15mm	WOC Open Roses, 10mm	6mm Jingle Bells
Round Doilies 4.5"	DecoArt Glamour Dust	Tim Holtz Paper Distresser Tool

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